Meet Matt Brown, Technology Specialist With Rutherford County Schools

Matt Brown is a level three technology support specialist for Rutherford County. In this Q+A he talks about his role supporting faculty and students across RCS.

Q: What do you do at the central office?

A: I am a technology support specialist, level three. That is the job title, but what do I do? I am the guy who rolls out Windows and (Microsoft) Office and applications. I make sure everything works for four-year-old students in Pre-K to everyone else — even the central office.

Q: How did you get here?

A: I’ve been here about 21 years. I started out volunteering with a different school system, but I’ve always enjoyed tinkering and playing with computers. So, by volunteering I continued to learn steps along the way and was eventually offered an entry level job. After a while, this position opened, and I came to Rutherford County. While I have been working here, I’ve gotten to be the tech at 17 different schools anywhere from elementary to high school.

Q: What impact do you have on everyone in Rutherford County Schools?

A: Every copy of Windows in this district, I’ve created and pushed out. So, you know, we take vanilla Windows from Microsoft and then I tweak that, so it works whether you’re PreK, teacher or director of schools. All that stuff is designed by me, tested by me, then our tech team gets to roll all that out.

Q: What do you like about working in tech support?

A: I appreciate getting time to spend with my family. But when I’m here, I love to tinker and play, and that gives me a ton of opportunities. There’s always something new to learn, something new to improve. I love being in schools. It’s actually pretty cool just when students want to talk or if I get to do a career day and talk to the kids. Anything like that. I don’t have the talent to teach but it still feels like I get to be a part of it when I get to be in a school, and you know, just talk to a teacher and teach them something new.

Q: What other passions do you have?

A: So, I love board games. I guess that slides into that nerdy, techie stuff. But I play board games with my wife and my two best friends every week. So that’s the thing I enjoy. My wife and I have over 200 board games. I also love camping and getting outdoors. I get up almost every morning and run a couple of miles to have that peace and quiet and enjoy a little time to myself outside.

So what is Brown’s No. 1 recommendation for a good starter family board game? Ticket to Ride.